Jeremiah 1:5
New International Version
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

New Living Translation
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

English Standard Version
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Berean Standard Bible
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

King James Bible
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

New King James Version
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

New American Standard Bible
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

NASB 1995
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

NASB 1977
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Legacy Standard Bible
“Before I formed you in the innermost parts I knew you, And before you came out from the womb I set you apart; I have given you as a prophet to the nations.”

Amplified Bible
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own]; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Christian Standard Bible
I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

American Standard Version
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Before I would form you in the womb I knew you, and before you would go out from the womb, I hallowed you, and I have given you as the Prophet to the nations

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee; I appointed thee a prophet to the nations.

Contemporary English Version
"Jeremiah, I am your Creator, and before you were born, I chose you to speak for me to the nations."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations.

English Revised Version
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations."

Good News Translation
"I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations."

International Standard Version
"I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born; I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations."

JPS Tanakh 1917
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, And before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

Literal Standard Version
“Before I form you in the belly, I have known you; and before you come forth from the womb I have separated you; I have made you a prophet to the nations.”

Majority Standard Bible
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

New American Bible
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

NET Bible
"Before I formed you in your mother's womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations."

New Revised Standard Version
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

New Heart English Bible
"Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Webster's Bible Translation
Before I formed thee in embryo I knew thee; and before thou wast born I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet to the nations.

World English Bible
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Young's Literal Translation
'Before I form thee in the belly, I have known thee; and before thou comest forth from the womb I have separated thee, a prophet to nations I have made thee.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Call of Jeremiah
4The word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”…

Cross References
Luke 1:15
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

John 10:36
then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?

1 Corinthians 8:3
But the one who loves God is known by God.

Galatians 1:15
But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

Psalm 139:15
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

Isaiah 49:1
Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.


Treasury of Scripture

Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

before I

Psalm 71:5,6
For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth…

Isaiah 49:1,5
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name…

Luke 1:76
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

I knew

Exodus 33:12,17
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight…

Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

2 Timothy 2:19-21
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity…

and before

Luke 1:15,41
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb…

Romans 1:1
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

and I ordained.

Ephesians 1:22
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 4:11,12
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; …

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Jeremiah 1
1. The time
4. And the calling of Jeremiah
11. His prophetical visions of an almond rod and a seething pot
15. His heavy message against Judah
17. God encourages him with his promise of assistance














(5) I knew thee.--With the force which the word often has in Hebrew, as implying. not foreknowledge only, but choice and approval (Psalm 1:6; Psalm 37:18, Amos 3:2).

I sanctified thee.--i.e., consecrated thee, set thee apart as hallowed for this special use.

Ordained.--Better, I have appointed, without the conjunction, this verb referring to the manifestation in time of the eternal purpose.

Unto the nations.--i.e., to the outlying Gentile nations. This was the distinguishing characteristic of Jeremiah's work. Other prophets were sent to Israel and Judah, with occasional parentheses of prophecies that affected the Gentiles. The horizon of Jeremiah was to extend more widely. In part his work was to make them drink of the cup of the Lord's fury (Jeremiah 25:15-17); but in part also he was a witness to them of a brighter future (Jeremiah 48:47; Jeremiah 49:39). It is as though he had drunk in the Spirit of Isaiah, and thought of the true prophet as one who was to be a light of the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6). . . .

Verse 5. - Knew thee; i.e. took notice of thee; virtually equivalent to selected thee (comp. Genesis 39:6; Amos 3:2; Isaiah 58:3; Psalm 144:3). Observe, the predestination of individuals is a familiar idea in the Old Testament (comp. Isaiah 45:4; Isaiah 49:1; Psalm 139:16). It was also familiar to the Assyrians: King Assurba-nipal declares at the opening of his ' Annals ' that the gods "in the body of his mother have made (him) to rule Assyria." Familiar, too, to the great family of religious reformers. For, as Dean Milman has truly observed, "No Pelagian ever has or ever will work a religious revolution. He who is destined for such a work must have a full conviction that God is acting directly, immediately, consciously, and therefore with irresistible power, upon him and through him He who is not predestined, who does not declare, who does not believe himself predestined as the author of a great religions movement, he in whom God is not manifestly, sensibly, avowedly working out his pre-established designs, will never be saint or reformer" ('Latin Christianity,' 1:111, 112). Sanctified thee; i.e. set thee apart for holy uses. Ordained; rather, appointed. Unto the nations. Jeremiah's prophecies, in fact, have reference not only to Israel, but to the peoples in relation to Israel (ver. 10; Jeremiah 25:15, 16; Jeremiah 46-49; Jeremiah 50 and Jeremiah 51.?).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Before
בְּטֶ֨רֶם (bə·ṭe·rem)
Preposition-b | Adverb
Strong's 2962: Non-occurrence, not yet, before

I formed
אֶצָּרְךָ֤ (’eṣ·ṣā·rə·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3335: To mould into a, form, as a, potter, to determine

you in the womb
בַבֶּ֙טֶן֙ (ḇab·be·ṭen)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 990: The belly, the womb, the bosom, body of anything

I knew you,
יְדַעְתִּ֔יךָ (yə·ḏa‘·tî·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

and before
וּבְטֶ֛רֶם (ū·ḇə·ṭe·rem)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Adverb
Strong's 2962: Non-occurrence, not yet, before

you were born
תֵּצֵ֥א (tê·ṣê)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

I set you apart
הִקְדַּשְׁתִּ֑יךָ (hiq·daš·tî·ḵā)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6942: To be set apart or consecrated

[and] appointed
נְתַתִּֽיךָ׃ (nə·ṯat·tî·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

you a prophet
נָבִ֥יא (nā·ḇî)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5030: A spokesman, speaker, prophet

to the nations.”
לַגּוֹיִ֖ם (lag·gō·w·yim)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the belly (Jer.)
Jeremiah 1:4
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